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Written Question
Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs
Tuesday 24th May 2022

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the current Feed-In Tariffs paid by energy companies for electricity generated from domestic solar panels; when were these tariffs last revised; and whether they have a policy to raise these in line with current energy costs.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

A breakdown of the current Feed in Tariffs (FIT) for domestic solar can be found on Ofgem's website (copy attached).

The FIT tariff rates are adjusted annually, in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and there are no current plans to adjust this policy.


Written Question
Hydrogen: Employment
Monday 6th July 2020

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the development of a hydrogen strategy on employment in the UK.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is committed to exploring the development of hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier, alongside electricity and other decarbonised gases. As such we are currently developing our strategic approach to hydrogen and its potential to deliver against our net zero goals. In November 2019 we published the Energy Innovation Needs Assessment (EINA) for hydrogen and fuel cells. This identified that the future market for all hydrogen technologies could yield around £5.3bn of GVA and create nearly 50,000 jobs by 2050 to meet demand in export and domestic markets.

We are already investing up to £121m in innovation to support a range of projects exploring and developing hydrogen across the value chain, unlocking jobs and growth. We are developing further policies to grow the UK hydrogen sector and will assess the impact of these in due course, including the positive impact this could have on clean growth and jobs.


Written Question
Hydrogen
Monday 6th July 2020

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to publish a strategy for the development of hydrogen as a means of reducing atmospheric pollution and reaching net zero targets; and if so, when.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is committed to the development of hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier for the UK. We are currently developing our strategic approach to hydrogen and its potential to deliver against our net zero goals. We will set out our plans in due course.

In order to inform our approach we are undertaking extensive stakeholder engagement as we develop new policy to help bring forward the technologies and supply chain we will need to grow the UK hydrogen economy. This includes business models to support the deployment of, and investment in, low carbon hydrogen production and a £100m Low Carbon Hydrogen Production Fund to stimulate capital investment. We will be further engaging with industry on both schemes throughout the year.


Written Question
Hydrogen
Monday 6th July 2020

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact on the economy of using hydrogen as an energy source.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

We are exploring hydrogen’s potential to deliver against our clean growth goals – meeting our decarbonisation needs and capturing the commercial opportunities of the global low carbon shift.

In November 2019 we published the Energy Innovation Needs Assessment (EINA) for hydrogen and fuel cells. This identified that the future market for all hydrogen technologies could yield around £5.3bn of GVA and create nearly 50,000 jobs by 2050 to meet demand in export and domestic markets.


Written Question
Hydrogen
Monday 6th July 2020

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the amount of private capital that might be available to support a hydrogen-based economy.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

While Government does not have a formal assessment of all private capital that might be invested in the hydrogen economy, it is clear that there is growing interest in this area and we are in regular discussions with businesses about their investment plans for hydrogen projects, including those that are ready for very near-term deployment.

We are undertaking extensive stakeholder engagement as we develop new policy to help bring forward the technologies and supply chain we will need to grow the UK hydrogen economy. As part of this we are looking to formalise regular engagement between Government and industry to discuss and drive development if the UK hydrogen economy. This will consider how we can best work together to encourage increased private sector investment in hydrogen projects, growing the hydrogen supply chain and providing clean growth and new jobs across the UK.


Written Question
Hydrogen
Monday 6th July 2020

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the plans of other countries to develop hydrogen strategies of their own.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is committed to the development of hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier.

We are closely monitoring international hydrogen developments and participate in a range of international fora, including the International Partnership for Hydrogen for Fuel Cells in the Economy, Mission Innovation and Clean Energy Ministerial. These offer opportunity to discuss and other countries’ domestic hydrogen strategies in detail. This contributes to understanding of, for example, respective drivers for interest, levels of ambition, innovation priorities and policy support frameworks. This is informing our own strategic approach to the development of hydrogen in the UK context, including opportunities for partnership and economic benefit.


Written Question
Pedlars Act 1871
Thursday 14th March 2019

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 5 March (HL14087), when consideration was last given to reforming the Pedlars' Act 1871; and what the outcome of that consideration was.

Answered by Lord Henley

Her Majesty’s Government reviewed the Pedlars’ Act 1871 as part of its work on ‘Street Trading and Pedlars laws: compliance with the Services Directive’ consultation. The Government’s Response was published on 16 October 2014 and a copy is attached.


Written Question
Pedlars Act 1871
Tuesday 5th March 2019

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to updating the Pedlars' Act 1871, as amended in 1881.

Answered by Lord Henley

The Government considers the effectiveness of legislation periodically and will take action where appropriate.


Written Question
Renewable Energy
Thursday 3rd May 2018

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is (1) the annual subsidy paid to Drax power station for burning wood pellets and (2) the estimated total cost of funding the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project; and what measurement has been made of the polluting effects of each of those schemes.

Answered by Lord Henley

In 2016/2017 Drax generated 11.3 TWh of electricity under the Renewables Obligation for which they received around £470m[1]. Drax also receives payments under the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme from the Low Carbon Contracts Company. Based on available information, we estimate that Drax received around £120 million in 2016/17 (in 2011/12 prices) in CfD payments. Whilst Drax co-fires biomass and coal, it only receives support for the proportion of electricity generated from biomass, which includes wood pellets.

The developer estimates the capital cost of funding the proposed Swansea Tidal Lagoon project to be approximately £1.3bn.

Contracts for Difference are awarded for the purpose of encouraging low carbon electricity generation. All projects receiving support under the Renewables Obligation and the Contracts for Difference financial incentives mechanisms must comply with relevant greenhouse gas measures and standards on sustainable sourcing of feedstock. All electricity generators must comply with relevant environmental regulations.

[1] In 2011/12 prices and based on Drax receiving 10,986,268 Renewables Obligation Certificates ( ROCs) with the notional value of each ROC estimated to be £43.10. [The RO does not pay a direct subsidy. Instead, it places an obligation on UK electricity suppliers to present to Ofgem a certain number of ROCs in respect of each MWh of electricity supplied each year, or to make a payment per ROC (the “buy-out price”) into a buy-out fund. Ofgem issue ROCs to generators in relation to the amount of renewable electricity that they generate and the relevant support rate. Generators sell their ROCs to suppliers or traders, with or without the electricity generated, as tradable commodities. After Ofgem’s administration costs have been deducted, the money from the buy-out fund is recycled on a pro-rata basis to suppliers who presented ROCs. The price of a ROC is not fixed and is a matter for negotiation between the generator and supplier/trader. However, the notional value of a ROC is considered to be the buy-out price, plus the value of the recycled buy-out fund payments].


Written Question
Tidal Power: Swansea Bay
Monday 5th March 2018

Asked by: Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will consider and respond to relevant parts of the (1) Clean Growth Strategy, (2) Industrial Strategy, and (3) Hendry Review, in order that a decision is reached on progressing the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon.

Answered by Lord Henley

In coming to any decision on the proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon, the Government is currently assessing the Hendry Review and considering how this technology delivers against its priorities, as set out in the Clean Growth Strategy and the Industrial Strategy.

This will ensure that the response to the Hendry Review takes into account the best interests of the UK as a whole and represents value for money for the UK taxpayer and the consumer.